Jaime Jo Wright is the author of twelve novels, including Christy Award and Daphne du Maurier Award winner The House on Foster Hill and Carol Award winner The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. She’s also a four-time Christy Award finalist, as well as the ECPA bestselling author of The Vanishing at Castle Moreau, The Lost Boys of Barlowe Theater, and two Publishers Weekly bestselling novellas. Jaime lives in Wisconsin with her family and fabulous felines
In this interview, Jaime Jo shares her thoughts regarding her latest novel, Tempest at Annabel’s Lighthouse.
FF: Can you tell us a little about your new novel Tempest at Annabel’s Lighthouse?
Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s, Annabel Lee, my imagination went wild with a story of silver mining, the wildness of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, lighthouses, and of course, the ghostly presence that oversees it all. I also wanted to touch on the concept of faithfulness within love. Can love be too all-encompassing? What is the balance between loving yourself and sacrificing yourself for the ones that you love? And of course, when love is thwarted, how it haunts you until it is finally put to rest.
FF: What inspired you to set this story around a lighthouse on Lake Superior?
I’ve long wanted to write a lighthouse story set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, on the shores of Lake Superior. The region of Ontonagon, Michigan has long been my stomping grounds since childhood and is a rich wealth of history tracing its roots far before the entry of the European into the area. I was excited to give homage to the original People of the area, some of the lore, and also, to celebrate the wildness of the lake itself.
FF: What kind of research was involved to write the historical aspects of the 1874 timeline?
I’ve been researching this area and time frame for many years. Known for its copper mining history, there was a brief period where it was thought to also be rich with silver. There was so much about the quick rise and fall in my research that I feel I could write a pile of stories that touch on various elements in this short decade of time. As it stands, I had to stop researching and actually write the book!
Both Rebecca and Shea are dealing with personal crises. How do their journeys parallel each other?
Both Rebecca and Shea are experiencing the ebb in the element of love in their life. And not only romantic love, but also just that feeling of identity we develop by being loved. While Rebecca is longing to be safe, and held, and secure, Shea is testing her wings, fighting against the constraints of an apathetic marriage. Theirs is a story of sacrificial love versus self-love, and how does one be individualistic while also being tied to another’s name and family.
FF: The theme of memory plays a significant role in both timelines. Can you discuss how you approached writing characters who are struggling with their past and identity?
I think the narrative in culture currently really steers us toward the pursuit of self-care. And while there is a place for that in terms of mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health, it can also be turned into an imbalanced perspective of you before them. Most of the greatest heroes of our pasts are such because of their sacrifice for others. So with two main character’s both struggling with identity as well as the fickle nature of memories and how they affect our emotions, it was an intriguing story to write and try to find that balance.
FF: Additionally, the lighthouse seems to be a character in itself. Can you talk about the symbolism of the lighthouse and its importance to the narrative?
Lighthouses are synonymous with being a place of rescue. A light in the darkness. I wanted to come at a lighthouse from a different perspective with this story. I wanted it to be the center pointe of the tempestuousness of life. I wanted it to be symbolic of us as a person and how we have these facades we wear to guide others, while our insides are crumbling and we’re crashing against our own shorelines.
FF: The ghostly presence of Annabel is a key element in the story. How do you incorporate supernatural elements into your novels while maintaining a Christian worldview?
It’s definitely a fine line to walk when approaching the paranormal in inspirational fiction. But I think it makes it more challenging too, than just explaining the experiences away with a ghost. I also believe there is a spiritual world and things we cannot always explain. So I try to leave some questions unanswered to provide that feeling of question and creepiness, while giving the reader an even more twisted and spiraling answer than simply an angry or haunting spirit.
FF: A convincing suspense or mystery novel will allow readers to experience a level of fear, but in your books, there’s also hope at the end of the horror. How do you balance creating an effective thrill ride with the other elements of your stories?
I think life is a thrill ride, and I believe with that many of us live our own horror stories. I believe it’s important to find that spark of hope that promises the love and guidance of our Creator. My books usually don’t end with a perfect happily-ever-after, but I also don’t want to leave readers in the darkness when they close the book. So it’s a slow and gradient climb from the valley to part way up the mountain in my stories. By the end, I’m hoping readers can catch a glimpse of the beautiful view and promise.
FF: What sets this book apart from your previous novels?
Aside from the setting, Tempest at Annabel’s Lighthouse is a foray into a married couple’s relationship, which I don’t usually venture into. But, primarily, it’s the first time I’ve written a story inspired by my literary hero, Edgar Allan Poe. Being able to bring homage to his writing and the mystique of Annabel Lee was a priviledge.
What message do you hope readers take away from this story?
FF: I hope readers can take away what it means to love—to truly love—and how unconditional love and sacrifice is essential to life. I also would pray readers discover the wildness that is love, as symbolized by the Porcupine Mountain region in which the story takes place. That it is to be honored and revered.
FF: Can you share what you’re working on next?
Of course! I’m currently writing a story inspired by an unsolved cold case from England in the late 19th century. This one will involve a bell tower, a double homicide, an orphaned niece who must live with her uncle and aunt’s corpses in their mansion until their funeral and, as I always tend to write dual-time, it will transport readers into the present day, when this cold case rises from the flood waters bringing not only old skeletons, but new ones as well.
Tempest at Annabel’s Lighthouse
Jaime Jo Wright
Bethany House
Genres: Romantic Suspense, Mystery/Suspense
Release Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN-10: 0764243799
ISBN-13: 978-0764243790
Book Summary:
Where the lighthouse no longer illuminates, ghostly lore and legends emerge…
1874
A battered woman awakens atop a forgotten gravesite by Lake Superior’s southern shore. Identified only by the locket around her neck inscribed with the name Rebecca, she seeks refuge with an elderly lighthouse keeper. But as Rebecca struggles to remember who she is, she finds herself haunted by the lingering memories of Annabel, a mysterious woman who perished in the lake’s unforgiving waves years earlier. With the spirit of Annabel seemingly reawakened, and an unknown adversary on the hunt to silence Rebecca once and for all, more is at stake than reclaiming her own memories. Rebecca must reclaim Annabel’s as well.
Present Day
Author and researcher Shea Radclyffe escapes to the lighthouse outside a historic Michigan mining town to seek clarity about her failing marriage. Instantly drawn to the lighthouse’s landlord, Shea contends with the legend of Annabel’s vengeful ghost and a superstitious community that has buried the truth about a current murder. As the secrets harbored around Annabel’s lighthouse unravel, Shea must navigate a fight between torn loyalty, self-discovery, and the haunting forces of love.
…demanding vengeance for secrets that should have drowned a century before.
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